The present invention relates to data entry and/or data tracking, more particularly to computerized methodologies for entering and/or tracking data pertaining to operation, maintenance and/or configuration of objects such as machinery equipment.
All gas turbine ships in the U.S. Navy fleet are required to maintain a Marine Gas Turbine Equipment Logbook (MGTEL) containing official Marine Gas Turbine Equipment Service Records (MGTESR) for each main propulsion and auxiliary power engine. These logbooks track operating, maintenance and configuration data. The records are not only essential in maintaining proper operational efficiency of the units by the ships, but are also essential for engineering analyses and logistics support.
Current MGTEL/MGTESR practices represent a carryover from U.S. Navy aviation practices. When gas turbines were selected for use on the U.S. Navy's surface ships, a variety of program practices from the aviation community were adopted and incorporated into the Marine Gas Turbine (MGT) programs. One such practice has been the maintenance of gas turbine logbooks to maintain configuration, component, maintenance and operational data. Ships use a pen-and-paper product (MGTEL) to maintain this type of data and to provide data updates, via naval message, to U.S. Navy offices. This data is then used to maintain two separate, automated data repositories, viz., CSA (configuration tracking system) and OPHRS (operating hours). Both databases are resident on mainframe computers and cost in excess of $600 thousand per year (FY 98 dollars) to maintain.
The above-described gas turbine data-tracking systems currently in place have their drawbacks. These multiple and separate data-tracking systems are redundant within and across platforms and with resultant discrepancies. Furthermore, these data-tracking systems are costly, inefficient, error-prone and largely inaccessible. The only way that off-ship activities can access the MGTEL/MGTESR data is for portions of the data to be copied into message format and transmitted via a paper document.
The U.S. Navy has customarily predicated its ship maintenance systems on time-directed preventive maintenance principles. Recently, the U.S. Navy has been transitioning in favor of condition-based maintenance (CBM) principles, with a view toward increasing readiness, decreasing maintenance and decreasing manning requirements. It would be desirable to practice a gas turbine logbook methodology that is consistent with CBM values.